High-definition television, computers, set-top boxes and associated personal video recorders (PVR's), gaming consoles, cellular phones and mobile digital media players all receive targeted digital content. These devices are used by millions of consumers at the present time. The capabilities and market penetration are large and will soon increase dramatically.
Typically, these device owners subscribe to various content delivery services, for example, a cable or satellite provider, a high definition (HD) broadcaster, a consumer electronics maker or a telephone company. As customers become increasingly technology-savvy, living in a wireless, time-shifted world, they desire content delivered to whichever device they choose and whenever they desire. Thus, the demands on providers are increasing.
As a result, internet protocol television (IPTV) is becoming increasingly popular and promises to meet many of these future demands by targeting individual subscribers with interactive content and delivering the content to them using multiple services. Many of the current IPTV services, however, do not offer a comprehensive portfolio of total content delivery solutions for building a scaleable, interoperable, cost-effective IPTV architecture. Also, as the media and entertainment industry move to an information technology (IT) model, customers face a learning curve to integrate new revenue-generating business models with an evolving back office. The intelligent management of news, insterstitial material, and long- and short-form programming desirably includes digital news gathering, such that broadcasters and content originators can support end-to-end news gathering and provide shared access to content for different servers. It is possible to leverage industry standards, for example, a media object server (MOS) communication protocol for use in such systems.
An IPTV network would desirably have software modules and associated infrastructure or equipment to manage content delivery and video transport, and monitor the network to maintain quality of service. Some type of localized ad insertion is desirable to reach tightly segmented audiences with localized versions of branded programming. It is also desirable to automate the business rules associated with finding, managing, and distributing digital content along with permutations of the same content to different subscribers. This requires a comprehensive, interoperable, and scaleable number of sub-systems that can operate together in a seamless manner.